When Tina Janczura Dasilva started feeling health anxiety over unexplained symptoms at age 43, she knew something was changing.
“Every single month I would get hit with a new ache or pain. I thought something was wrong with me,” she said.
One night, while reading her 7-year-old daughter a children’s book, she had an idea.
“As I’m reading this book to her, I thought, ‘I wish I had a book about my feelings,'” said Janczura Dasilva. “That’s where the inspiration came from.”
Jaczura Dasilva published “My Perimenopause Parade” in the summer of 2026, using humor and relatability to capture the emotional roller coaster many women experience during perimenopause.
Perimenopause is the transitional period before menopause, often lasting for years, with symptoms like hot flashes or irregular periods.
“I created this cast of characters,” she said. “They’re animals in women’s clothing, and each animal represents a different feeling, whether it’s the turtle with brain fog, or it’s the hormonal raccoon, or the anxious deer.”
As estrogen levels begin to decline, a woman’s body adjusts to the changes in hormones differently, according to the Cleveland Clinic. Although symptoms vary, many people experience changes in mood and weight, hot flashes, night sweats and problems sleeping.
Dasilva shares her book with other women at events in bookstores and at fitness studios to cultivate a fellowship of females craving connection.
She met Amy Fontana at their children’s school, but the pair connected over a shared experience of perimenopause symptoms.
“The relationships get deeper once you can talk about things, and you start hearing what other people are experiencing. You don’t feel so alone,” said Fontana, a mom and small business owner who is also in perimenopause. “Lots of hot flashes, waking up in the middle of the night drenched, wondering why. Brain fog is huge. I would forget words that I normally would say.”
The pair hosted a meditation event for women at Fontana’s suburban Lagree studio, and their relationship with guests has blossomed since.
“It was so empowering,” said Fontana. “It created this community, so women could come together. So, we just all kind of bonded, and now there’s a little text chat group. ‘Oh my gosh, have you tried this? Have you done this? Are you experiencing such and such?'”
Andrea Brogle has attended book events, and found a solution for her symptoms.
“Weight gain, loss of muscle, not sleeping,” said Brogle, a photographer and mother of five. “I actually got help from Tina, and I started seeing a functional doctor. Working with a functional doctor really changed my life. Supplements, foods my body likes, foods my body doesn’t like.”
The moms have found unexpected community discussing a topic formerly seen as taboo, demonstrating through their friendship the antidote to symptoms in solitude can be solidarity.
“Some of the things that we feel are uncommon are actually very universal,” said Janczura Dasilva. “By giving something a new name, you’re almost able to see it in a different light and give it some compassion and love.”
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